Located in the center of Bhaktapur Durbar square the 55 window palace, or Palace of Fifty-Five Windows, was built by King Bhupatindra Malla. However, it was not completed until 1754 during the reign of Jaya Ranjit Malla, who was the last of the Bhaktapur Malla kings. Today the 55 Window Palace still stands as Bhaktapur's Royal Palace on ceremonial occasions.

The interior of the 55 Window Palace is closed. There was a lot of damage done to it during the 1934 earthquake. There is an entrance to several inner courtyards around the palace through The Golden Gate, one of the most lavish and important artifacts in Nepal today. Non-hindus may only continue on to Taleju Chowk and the ornate royal water tank Naga Pokhari.

While it might seem there's not much to see around the closed 55 window palace its exterior is beautiful and certainly worth a look. This is especially true of the elaborate wooden window frames that surround it.

Does the palace really have 55 windows? At least 4 of the windows are more like window slats. But they can technically be called windows so the answer is yes.

After the 1934 earthquake much of the lower brick portions of the palace had to be rebuilt. The upper wooden windows remained intact. There was some interior damage during the 2015 earthquake but the exterior remains undamaged.

The Golden Gate: A beautifully ornate and culturally important piece of artwork. It's also the door you enter though into the palace courtyard.

Liked this page? You'll love my book! It's a guidebook that's better than the rest. Yes, really! In it I cover all of Bhaktapur's attractions with well researched information, photographs and travel tested walking tours.